Electronic flash assemblies for photographic purposes



Dec. 19, 1967 .o. BIHLMAIER ELECTRONIC FLASH ASSEMBLIES FOR PHOTOGRAPHICPURPOSES Filed May 17, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG] Dec. 19, 1967 I vBIHLMAIER 3,353,573

ELECTRONIC FLASH ASSEMBLIES FOR PHOTOGRAPHIC PURPOSES Filed May 17, 19652 Sheets-Sheet 2 United States Patent Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSUREElectronic flash devices for photographic purposes, and in particular tobe used in connection with cameras so as to provide flash exposures.There are three basic assemblies which coact together, these assembliesincluding a camera which has a built-in unit provided only with aplurality of components constituting part of an electronic flash device,the second of the basic assemblies being a first housing which can bedetachably connected to the above camera and which carries the remainderof the components to constitute with the above part of an electronicflash device a first complete electronic flash when the housing of thesecond basic assembly is connected to the camera, and the third basicassembly being a second housing carrying only a plurality of componentscorresponding to those which are built into the above camera and thissecondhousing is capable of being detachably connected with the firsthousing to form therewith an independent second complete electronicflash device. Thus, When the first housing is not used with the camerait can be used With the second housing to form therewith a separateindependent electronic flash device.

The present invention relates to the art of photography.

More particularly, the present invention relates to electronic flashdevices which are to be used for photographic purposes.

Itis already known to provide a camera with a built-in unit whichincludes part of the components of an electronic flash device. Thesecomponents carried by the builtin unit of the camera will conventionallyinclude at least the flash tube and reflector of the electronic flashdevice. The remainder of the components of the electronic flash device,including at least the source of current thereof, is conventionallycarried by a separate housing capable of being detachably connected withthe camera so as to cooperate with the components of the built-in unitto form a complete electronic flash device. This separate housingpreferably takes the form of a hand-grip, so that when the separatehousing of the electronic flash device is attached to the camera it willserve as a grip therefor.

An electronic flash device of this latter type is only complete andcapable of being used when this separate housing is coupled to thecamera. Of course, the camera can be used for making exposures withoutflash illumination, such as daylight exposures, and under these latterconditions the separate housing with the components of the flash devicecarried thereby are not used. Therefore, under these conditions, thisseparate housing and the components carried thereby form a uselessaccessory.

It is a primary object of the present invention to render this latterpart of the electronic flash device useful.

In particular, it is an object of the present invention to provide astructure which enables the detachable portion of an electronic flashdevice to be of utility with a camera which has no built-in flashstructure.

Furthermore, it is an object of the present invention to provide anassembly in which, as much as possible, duplicate components areidentically constructed so that adice vantage is taken ofmass-production techniques to reduce the costs.

Also, it is an object of the present invention to provide a structurewhich makes use of conventional structures already available onconventional cameras for the purposes of the present invention.

Also, the objects of the present invention include the provision of acomplete electronic flash device capable of being effectively attachedto a conventional camera which has no built-in flash structure.

The invention is illustrated by Way of example in the accompanyingdrawings which form part of the application and in which:

FIG. 1 is a partly sectional elevation showing an electronic flashdevice according to the present invention which includes a built-in unitof a camera which carries part of the components of the flash device anda separate housing carrying the remainder of the components of the flashdevice; and

FIG. 2 is a partly sectional elevation illustrating an electronic flashdevice which is completely separate, in its entirety, from a camera andwhich can be detachably connected with a conventional camera, asindicated in FIG. 2.

The electronic flash structure or" the present invention illustrated inthe drawings, is made up of three main assemblies. The first mainassembly includes a separate housing 1 which preferably takes the formof a handgrip and which carries in its interior a first group ofcomponents which form part of, but not all of, an electronic flashdevice. Among the group of components carried by the separate housing 1is at least the source of current which as a rule takes the form of abattery.

The second main assembly of the electronic flash structure of thepresent invention includes a second group of components which form thebuilt-in unit 2 indicated in FIG. 1 as housed within the cap orenclosure 3 which is mounted on top of the camera housing 4 of a camera5, in a conventional well known manner. Among the components of thebuilt-in unit 2 of the camera 5 is at least the electronic flash tube 6,as shown in dotted lines in FIG. 1, and the reflector 7 situated behindthe flash tube 6.

The components carried by the separate housing 1 form together with thecomponents of the built-in unit 2 a complete electronic flash device.

The third main assembly of the present invention is illustrated in FIG.2 and is in the form of an accessory 8 which includes a second separatehousing which houses a third group of components which correspond to andare in fact identical with the group of components of the built-in unit2. Thus, the second separate housing 9 is provided with a reflector 7 infront of which is situated an electronic flash tube 6'. Thus, the firstseparated housing land the second separate housing 9, when attached toeach other in a manner described below, are capable of forming, from thecomponents carried by these housings, a complete electronic flash devicewhich is separate from any camera and which may be used with aconventional camera such as the camera 16 which has no builtin flashtructure and which is indicated in FIG. 2.

The separate housing 1, which has the configuration of a hand-grip, isprovided at its upper end with an electrical and mechanical couplingmeans 11. The mechanical portion of the coupling means 11 includes apart of a bayonet connecting assembly 12, this part 12 of the bayonetconnection being turnable with a rotary ring 13 carried by the upperpart of the housing 1 and capable of being manually turned by theoperator. The bayonet structure 12 surrounds the electrical part of thecoupling means 11, this electrical part being formed by a plug assembly14 which is provided with prong receptacles 15.

The mechanical and electrical coupling means 11 is adapted to beconnected with the complementary coupling means 16 carried by the camerahousing 4 at the bottom portion 4a thereof. This complementarymechanical and electrical coupling means 16 includes a support 17fixedly carried by the camera housing 4 and fixedly carrying thestationary part 18 of the bayonet connection 12', 18, so that thebayonet structure 12 can he slipped into and turned with respect to thestructure 18 to effect the bayonet connection of the separate housing 1to the camera 4 of FIG. 1. The electrical part of the coupling means 15includes the prongs 19 which are respectively received in the plugreceptacles 15. The support 17 is mounted within an inwardly directedhollow portion4a of the bottom wall of the camera housing 4,sothat'inthis way the coupling structure 16 is situated within a recessat the exterior of the housing 4 of: the camera S-and thus does notproject therefrom.

The built-in unit 2 includes a support means 24) which carries thevarious components of the built-in unit and which is in the form of a.plate capable of being mounted on the top wall of the camera housing-4'in the interior of the enclosure 3* which is carried by the topwall ofthe housing 4 in a conventional well known manner. This carrier orsupport means 20 isprovided with a holder 21 for a pair ofelectrically-conductive prongs 22 which are received in plu'greceptacles23, respectively, when the support means 20: is mounted on the camerahousing 4 in the position indicated in FIG. 1. The pair ofprong-receptacles 23 are electrically connected with the prongs 19,respectively, by way of a pair of electrical conductors 24 which extendalong the interior of the housing 4 in the manner indicated in FIG. 1.

The second separate housing 9, shown in- FIG. 2, includes a supportmeans 20' which corresponds to and is in fact identical with the supportmeans 20 of the unit 2. This support means 20' carries components of theelectronic flash device which are identical with and arranged in thesame way as those carried bythe support means 20 ofthe built-in unit 2.Thus, it will be seen that the support means 20' carries a holder 17',correspondingto the part 17- of the coupling means 16 and carrying, inthe same way, a pair of prongs 19 identical with the prongs 19, and inaddition the support structure 17 is fixed with the bayonet connectingstructure 18 which is constructed in the same way as and corresponds tothe bayonet-connecting structure 18 of FIG. 1. Therefore, the pair ofsupport means 20 and 20 are not only identical and correspond to eachother, but in addition they carry the same components of the electronicflash device with these components arranged in the same way both in thecase of the camera of FIG. 1 and in the case of the separate housing 9.In other words, the construction of the support means 20 is such thatthis support means can carry the mechanical and electrical couplingmeans 16, and in the case of the separate housing 9 the support means20' does in fact carry a structure which corresponds to the couplingmeans 16, so that in this way the coupling means 11 of the separatehousing 1 can be connected either with the coupling means 16 carried bythe camera 4 or with the corresponding coupling means 16 carried by thesupport 20' of the separate housing 9. As a result of this feature, thenumber of different components required to be manufactured is reduced toa minimum, and thus advantage is taken of mass-production techniques tokeep the costs extremely low.

The second separate housing 9 carries a means for detachably connectingthis second housing 9 to a conventional camera which does not have anybuilt-in flash structure, so that with the first housing 1 connectedwith the second housing 9, the components of both of these housings willtogether form a complete electronic flash device capable of being usedwith a conventional camera 10. The means for connecting the secondhousing 9 to the camera 10, shown in FIG. 2, preferably includes atripod screw 25 carried by the second housing 9 for rotary movement butprevented from axial movement. This rotary screw 25 has an annular,manually-engageable head portion 25a which extends laterally beyond thehousing 9 at its upper portion so as to be accessible to the operatorwho by engaging the head 25a, which may have a knurled periphery, canturn, the screw 25. This screw 25 is provided with a threaded shankportion 2511 which extends through a suitable opening upwardly beyondthe housing 9, and this threaded shank portion can be received in thethreaded bore 26 conventionally provided at the bottom of the camera 1'0for mounting the latter on a conventional tripod. The housing 9.isprovided, at its upper surface which engages the lower surface of thehousing of the camera 163 with a layer 27 of the material having a highcoefficient of friction so. that the possibility of any relativemovement between the housing 9 and the camera 10 after the housing 9 isattached thereto by the screw 25 is reduced to a minimum.

Moreover, the second housing 9. carries, an electrical cable 28 whichcan be releasably. connectedwith theflashsynchronizing contactv 29conventionally carried bythe camera 10. Finally, the separate housing 9carries a, switch- 30 capable of turning on and, off the entireelectronic flash device formed by the components of both housings 1' and9.

As may be seen from FIG. 1, by attaching the sep arate housing 1, by Wayof the pair of mechanical. and electrical coupling means, 11 and 16 tothe; camera. 5-,v a complete electronic flash deviceis provided for thecamera 5, the components of the flash device. which are carried by theseparate housing 1 being electrically connected by the plug and socketconnection 15, 19: and the conductors 24 to the plug and socketconnection 22, 23 which serves to electrically connect the components ofthe housing 1 with the components of the built-in unitZ- mounted withinthe cap 3 situated on top of the camera housing 4.

The camera. 5 can, however, be used completely independently of theseparate housing 1 for making exposures without flash illumination, andin this case the separate housing 1, which is of course now detachedfrom the camera 5, can be connected with the second housing 9 so thatthe components carried by the housing 1 will form with the componentscarried by the housing 9- a complete electronic flash device. Thislatter electronic flash device has the components of the pair ofhousings operatively connected to each other through the mechanical andelectrical coupling means 11, 16' which is of course identical with thatused for connecting the housing 1 to the camera 5. This completeelectronic flash device, shown in FIG. 2, can be attached to theconventional camera 10 in the manner described above. It is preferred toprovide the built-in unit 2 with components which include, in additionto the flash tube 6 and the reflector 7, an ignition device, a directcurrent converter, and an automatic control device for maintaining thecharging voltage of a storage capacitor constant. On the other hand, inthe separate housing 1 the components include, in addition to the sourceof current, a storage capacitor. This division of the components of theelectronic flash device between the built-in unit and the housing 1 is,however, not essential and may be varied according to the availablespace.

The invention is of course not limited to the specific example shOWn inthe drawing and described above. In particular, the coupling structurefor coupling the housing 1 either to the camera 5 or to the secondhousing 9 can take other forms. Moreover, instead of providing a tripodscrew 25 for connecting the second housing 9 to the conventional camera,it is possible to use a foot-and-shoe type of connection where thedetachable housing carries a foot received in a shoe conventionallycarried by the camera 10. Also, it is of course possible to give to theseparate housing 1 a relatively flat configuration where it will conformto the bottom of the camera 5 instead of taking the form of a handgrip,and of course in this case the camera would be held by the operator inthe conventional manner.

All of the above-described details shown in the drawing and referred toabove, can be combined together in any desired manner.

What is claimed is:

1. For use in photography, a camera having a built-in unit provided onlyWith a plurality of components constituting part of an electronic flashdevice, a first housing being detachably connected to said camera andcarrying the remainder of the components of the electronic flash device,said first housing when attached to said camera providing an operativeconnection between the components of said built-in unit and thecomponents carried by said first housin-g so as to provide a firstcomplete electronic flash device, and a second housing carrying only aplurality of components corresponding to those of said built-in unit andcapable of being detachably connected with said first housing to formtherewith a second complete electronic flash device when said firsthousing is not connected to said camera.

2. The combination of claim 1 and wherein said second housing carries ameans for connecting the latter to a conventional daylight exposurecamera, said camera when used alone capable only of making daylightexposures, so that said second housing with said first housing connectedthereto can form a complete electronic flash device for saidconventional daylight exposure camera to which said second housing isattached, and said second housing carrying a further means which isadapted to be connected to a flash-synchronizing contact of saidconventional daylight exposure camera.

3. The combination of claim 2 and wherein said daylight exposure camerais provided with a threaded bore for receiving a tripod screw, and saidmeans for connecting said second housing to said conventional cameraincluding a rotary tripod screw to be received in said threaded bore.

4. The combination of claim 3 and wherein said tripod screw is carriedby said second housing for rotary movement but is prevented from axialmovement, said tripod screw having a threaded shank portion extendingbeyond said second housing to be received in said threaded bore and saidtripod screw also having a manually-engageable portion projecting beyondsaid second housing to be accessible to the operator for turning saidtripod screw.

5. The combination of claim 1 and wherein said second housing carries ameans for connecting said second housing to a conventional daylightexposure camera, said camera when used alone capable only of makingdaylight exposures, so that said second housing when connected with saidfirst housing can be attached to the latter camera to provide a completeelectronic flash device therefor, and said second housing having asurface of a high coefficient of friction which is situated directlynext to and engages the conventional camera when said second housing isattached thereto.

6. The combination of claim 1 and wherein said second housing carries ameans for connecting the latter to a conventional daylight exposurecamera, said camera when used alone capable only of making daylightexposures, so that said second housing with said first housing connectedthereto can form a complete electronic flash device for saidconventional daylight exposure camera to which said second housing isattached, and said second housing carrying a cable which is adapted tobe connected to a flash-synchronizing contact of said conventionaldaylight exposure camera.

7. The combination of claim 1 and wherein said complete electronic flashdevice formed by said first and second housings and the componentscarried thereby when said first and second housings are connected toeach other includes a switch carried by one of said housings for turningthe complete electronic flash device on and off.

8. The combination of claim 1 and wherein the built-in unit includes asupport means and a plurality of electronic flash components carriedthereby and said second housing carrying a support means substantiallyidentical with that of said built-in unit, said support means carried bysaid second housing also carrying components identical with those ofsaid built-in unit and arranged in the same way on the support means ofsaid second housing as on the support means of said built-in unit, sothat the assembly of the support means and said components carriedthereby can be interchangeably placed either in the built-in unit of thecamera or in the second housing.

9. The combination of claim 1 and wherein an electrical and mechanicalcoupling means releasably couples said first housing to said camera withsaid built-in unit, and a second mechanical and electrical couplingmeans identical with said first-mentioned coupling means for relealsablycoupling said first and second housings to each 0t er.

10. The combination of claim 1 and wherein the builtin unit and saidsecond housing both carry substantially identical support means whichsupport substantially identical components arranged in substantially thesame Way, said camera with said built-in unit carrying a coupling meansfor releasably coupling said first housing thereto and said supportmeans of said second housing carrying a coupling means identical withsaid coupling means of said camera with said built-in unit fordetachably coupling said first housing to said second housing.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,614,471 10/1952 Markowitz -862,844,081 7/1958 Wagner et al 95-11.5 2,953,675 9/1960 Kluge 95-115 X3,001,461 9/1961 Irwin 240-13 3,134,547 5/1964 Kapteyn et a1 95-115 X3,187,341 6/1965 Kubota et a1. 95-86 FOREIGN PATENTS 889,627 2/ 1962Great Britain.

NORTON ANSHER, Primary Examiner. FRED L. BRAUN, Assistant Examiner.

1. FOR USE IN PHOTOGRAPHY, A CAMERA HAVING A BUILT-IN UNIT PROVIDED ONLYWITH A PLURALITY OF COMPONENTS CONSTITUTING PART OF AN ELECTRONIC FLASHDEVICE, A FIRST HOUSING BEING DETACHABLY CONNECTED TO SAID CAMERA ANDCARRYING THE REMAINDER OF THE COMPONENTS OF THE ELECTRONIC FLASH DEVICE,SAID FIRST HOUSING WHEN ATTACHED TO SAID CAMERA PROVIDING AN OPERATIVECONNECTION BETWEEN THE COMPONENTS OF SAID BUILT-IN UNIT AND THECOMPONENTS CARRIED BY SAID FIRST HOUSING SO AS TO PROVIDE A FIRSTCOMPLETE ELECTRONIC FLASH DEVICE, AND A SECOND HOUSING CARRYING ONLY APLURALITY OF COMPONENTS CORRESPONDING OF THOSE OF SAID BUILT-IN UNIT ANDCAPABLE OF BEING DETACHABLE CONNECTED WITH SAID FIRST HOUSING TO FORMTHEREWITH A SECOND COMPLETE ELECTRONIC FLASH DEVICE WHEN SAID FIRSTHOUSING IS NOT CONNECTED TO SAID CAMERA.